I just don't understand why if we always just wanted a soft, slow, one-dimensional player that couldn't crack the top-six of 95% or more of the league's clubs we don't just bring back Michel Ouellet...? Why do we have to spend $4 million per year on a player that we can find for league minimum...?

If I have to say anything about some of the knocks PA gets about having inflated numbers playing with Molson and Tavares is that it really doesn't make sense to me. I think it's actually a plus. I think many Penguin fans can attest to this, but not just any player can play with Elite level players and succeed. I believe there's a lot to be said for a player who can keep up with that level of talent be successful.

How many players have we seen come and go from Sid and Gino's line? Obviously not ANY player is capable of doing it on a regular basis. If it was possible, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Vancouver or any other team for that matter could spend all their money on two top centers and just fill out their top six with 4th liners.

I'm not saying PA is my first choice. I think if Shero misses out on Parise, can't trade for Bobby Ryan or find a trade that brings in a similar player that PA is not bad option by any stretch. He does a lot of things well. As it's been argued between mikey and I, PA is not without a physical game. He may not be HUGE, but he's as big a guy as Kunitz, he may not hit like a maniac, but he's able to play gritty along the boards and dig for pucks. While that may not be that biggest part of his game, he can do it.

Would I overpay for him? No, but for a reasonable price he's a nice option if all else fails.

mikey287 wrote:I just don't understand why if we always just wanted a soft, slow, one-dimensional player that couldn't crack the top-six of 95% or more of the league's clubs we don't just bring back Michel Ouellet...? Why do we have to spend $4 million per year on a player that we can find for league minimum...?

I completely understand the need to express how PA is not even comparable to a guy like Parise... Because in truth well he is nothing like him, but there really is no one like Parise. I look at Parise as the cream of the crop of wingers in the league. He has the skill for sure, but its his passion and desire to win that is very similar to Crosby. That compete level is what puts Parise over the top for me when i look at wingers.

Having said that, i have no idea why you have so much hate for PA. The guy is absolutely consistent over the past three years with his offensive numbers. I know a lot of gifted players who can not play well with other gifted players. So when a guy like PA is able to contribute on a skilled line, it should be comended.

mikey287 wrote:I just don't understand why if we always just wanted a soft, slow, one-dimensional player that couldn't crack the top-six of 95% or more of the league's clubs we don't just bring back Michel Ouellet...? Why do we have to spend $4 million per year on a player that we can find for league minimum...?

I completely understand the need to express how PA is not even comparable to a guy like Parise... Because in truth well he is nothing like him, but there really is no one like Parise. I look at Parise as the cream of the crop of wingers in the league. He has the skill for sure, but its his passion and desire to win that is very similar to Crosby. That compete level is what puts Parise over the top for me when i look at wingers.

Having said that, i have no idea why you have so much hate for PA. The guy is absolutely consistent over the past three years with his offensive numbers. I know a lot of gifted players who can not play well with other gifted players. So when a guy like PA is able to contribute on a skilled line, it should be comended.

You sure about that. Last time I checked, PAP played 35 games in 2009-2010 for the Hartford Wolfpack, an AHL team.

mikey287 wrote:I just don't understand why if we always just wanted a soft, slow, one-dimensional player that couldn't crack the top-six of 95% or more of the league's clubs we don't just bring back Michel Ouellet...? Why do we have to spend $4 million per year on a player that we can find for league minimum...?

I completely understand the need to express how PA is not even comparable to a guy like Parise... Because in truth well he is nothing like him, but there really is no one like Parise. I look at Parise as the cream of the crop of wingers in the league. He has the skill for sure, but its his passion and desire to win that is very similar to Crosby. That compete level is what puts Parise over the top for me when i look at wingers.

Having said that, i have no idea why you have so much hate for PA. The guy is absolutely consistent over the past three years with his offensive numbers. I know a lot of gifted players who can not play well with other gifted players. So when a guy like PA is able to contribute on a skilled line, it should be comended.

You sure about that. Last time I checked, PAP played 35 games in 2009-2010 for the Hartford Wolfpack, an AHL team.

oops. 2 years.

funny fact: Parise is right next to Parenteau on the list of NHL players on TSN.

mikey287 wrote:I just don't understand why if we always just wanted a soft, slow, one-dimensional player that couldn't crack the top-six of 95% or more of the league's clubs we don't just bring back Michel Ouellet...? Why do we have to spend $4 million per year on a player that we can find for league minimum...?

I completely understand the need to express how PA is not even comparable to a guy like Parise... Because in truth well he is nothing like him, but there really is no one like Parise. I look at Parise as the cream of the crop of wingers in the league. He has the skill for sure, but its his passion and desire to win that is very similar to Crosby. That compete level is what puts Parise over the top for me when i look at wingers.

Having said that, i have no idea why you have so much hate for PA. The guy is absolutely consistent over the past three years with his offensive numbers. I know a lot of gifted players who can not play well with other gifted players. So when a guy like PA is able to contribute on a skilled line, it should be comended.

2012: 67 points2011: 53 points2010: 8 points

...womp.

Everyone that doesn't know what kind of player he is cites numbers, I cite playing ability. This guy holds back star players...they score despite PAP smear's best efforts...why get a player who is playing over his head in a different situation (and pay for it) when you can find a player to grow into that role that has a higher ceiling? That's just poor managing to do the former...Beau Bennett has a higher ceiling than Parenteau, why not put him on the line for a fraction of the cost? Tangradi too...Ouellet too...Mike Santorelli too...Darren Haydar, Jason Krog, etc. I mean, the part I'm missing, I guess, is why do we have to pay $4 million or more to add nothing to the lineup that Kunitz and Dupuis don't already bring? Or something that another player can bring for pennies on the dollar...? Why spend money for the sake of spending it...the secret is out on Parenteau, it's too late, there's no deal, there's paying a sucker's price for a sucker's player...and that's what he is, a sucker's player...this is the type of player that suckers fall for because they know stats and little else...

Don't you ever wonder why Tyler Kennedy doesn't get put on a line with Crosby? Crosby can feed and feed and feed and Kennedy can score 20 goals in this league evidently...but as a coach ( and a manager) you don't want that because you know there's no future and no advantage gained there...Kennedy has a ceiling, he's at it. Players have ceilings. Look at Chris Kunitz, he's a static producer. First line, third line, 2nd pairing D, backup goalie, with one leg, whatever, he's gonna produce about two-thirds of a point per game...that's it. Put him out there with Crosby, Lemieux, Coffey and Orr and he still gets the same point totals. That's it.

Why doesn't Darren Haydar or Jason Krog get called into more NHL situations? Because there's a cap, a limit, and once the players (Tavares on Long Island, Crosby here) outgrow these tag-alongs and the also-rans can't keep up physically or mentally as the star grows, they get left behind and they hold back the star...they r*tard development. That's why you look for solutions that can grow with the team and have a ceiling that's higher than your hand can reach...that's why the Isles top line looked a lot better when they stuck Kyle Okposo on it, because he can skate, think and play at a higher level with the ceiling to grow more than Parenteau...

Why do you think Andy Hilbert worked so well in a short period of time here with Crosby? Hilbert had years of pro experience, he was a top flight AHL scorer (just like PAP), he understood it then, he was with Crosby then...there's a reason why a player like that isn't retained...scouts, coaches, GMs can identify talent (hopefully) and go, "look, this isn't a solution...this was a band-aid" - this guy won't be able to keep up with him in 6-18 months...

You have to get players that grow in tandem with your star if you want to have success. Sure, Rob Brown worked for a minute with Mario...but isn't it something that after a 100 point season that no one wanted this guy? And he ended up spending most of his career in the minors? These examples aren't meaning anything to you? The Penguins identified a player that was skilled enough to help Mario and not just be there like a bucket of **** to bounce pucks off of him...it was Kevin Stevens and he blew Brown's ******* doors off...and we won the Cup with Stevens, not Brown...we won the Cup with Bill Guerin not Andy Hilbert...Evgeni Malkin was really good, but he had his best season when he had James Neal and not Ruslan Fedotenko...Neal can grow and think on this level...you need progression...adding stagnant parts into a growing, breathing system is just pure death...Kunitz is a static producer, but serves a major purpose besides scoring, Dupuis had a big step-up this year but career-wise is a static guy but serves a bigger purpose...Parenteau cannot play on any other line but the top-line, he can't do anything but hope his passes find Sidney Crosby, if they don't or he can't, we have a big, fat, expensive goose egg in the heart of our lineup that would make you guys wish you had 6 Paul Martin's...

Growth, think growth...do not stagnate growth...this isn't our little tiddly-winks, hopscotch team from 2004 and 2006 where a player like Parenteau might have been ok...it's time to play for real and make real moves because the window to win a Stanley Cup is small...you can't play around with crap like Parenteau...the time for that is long gone, lose the diapers, we're not going backwards here...we need to keep moving forward...

I didn't want to start a new thread and irritate everybody, but who's the biggest, no-heart, waste of talent ..... Semin, Radulov or Zherdev? I'd love to see another Russian guy in here to break bread and eat borscht with Geno, but these guys could potentially destroy a locker room.

Oh yeah, and Parenteau sucks. If the Pens sign him, I'll be disgusted.

mikey287 wrote:I just don't understand why if we always just wanted a soft, slow, one-dimensional player that couldn't crack the top-six of 95% or more of the league's clubs we don't just bring back Michel Ouellet...? Why do we have to spend $4 million per year on a player that we can find for league minimum...?

I completely understand the need to express how PA is not even comparable to a guy like Parise... Because in truth well he is nothing like him, but there really is no one like Parise. I look at Parise as the cream of the crop of wingers in the league. He has the skill for sure, but its his passion and desire to win that is very similar to Crosby. That compete level is what puts Parise over the top for me when i look at wingers.

Having said that, i have no idea why you have so much hate for PA. The guy is absolutely consistent over the past three years with his offensive numbers. I know a lot of gifted players who can not play well with other gifted players. So when a guy like PA is able to contribute on a skilled line, it should be comended.

You sure about that. Last time I checked, PAP played 35 games in 2009-2010 for the Hartford Wolfpack, an AHL team.

oops. 2 years.

funny fact: Parise is right next to Parenteau on the list of NHL players on TSN.

Yes, the alphabet is hilarious!

Why is this getting any credibility? Parise and Suter are confirmed targets. This is not even a reasonable rumor.

ace1 wrote:I didn't want to start a new thread and irritate everybody, but who's the biggest, no-heart, waste of talent ..... Semin, Radulov or Zherdev? I'd love to see another Russian guy in here to break bread and eat borscht with Geno, but these guys could potentially destroy a locker room.

Oh yeah, and Parenteau sucks. If the Pens sign him, I'll be disgusted.

ace1 wrote:I didn't want to start a new thread and irritate everybody, but who's the biggest, no-heart, waste of talent ..... Semin, Radulov or Zherdev? I'd love to see another Russian guy in here to break bread and eat borscht with Geno, but these guys could potentially destroy a locker room.

Oh yeah, and Parenteau sucks. If the Pens sign him, I'll be disgusted.

None of the above:

Nikita Filatov.

Pretty sure CSKA sent him to an MHL team at one point this past year, which is a minor league of sorts to the KHL.

ace1 wrote:I didn't want to start a new thread and irritate everybody, but who's the biggest, no-heart, waste of talent ..... Semin, Radulov or Zherdev? I'd love to see another Russian guy in here to break bread and eat borscht with Geno, but these guys could potentially destroy a locker room.

Oh yeah, and Parenteau sucks. If the Pens sign him, I'll be disgusted.

None of the above:

Nikita Filatov.

Pretty sure CSKA sent him to an MHL team at one point this past year, which is a minor league of sorts to the KHL.

Never understood the love for this guy. If the Pens missed on Parise, i would be more inclined to go for Bobby Ryan or Devin Setoguchi.

Can PA even skate that well? Playing with a dude like Tavares and only having 20 goals once is rather alarming. I have watched Setoguchi and my friend is a huge Sharks fan so i watched my fair share of games with him. I love that guy. Has great scoring ability.

Bioshock wrote:Never understood the love for this guy. If the Pens missed on Parise, i would be more inclined to go for Bobby Ryan or Devin Setoguchi.

Can PA even skate that well? Playing with a dude like Tavares and only having 20 goals once is rather alarming. I have watched Setoguchi and my friend is a huge Sharks fan so i watched my fair share of games with him. I love that guy. Has great scoring ability.

If we miss on Parise, I don't know why we would then trade more assets for Ryan, and Setoguchi is not as talented as Alex Semin, who I believe is the real consolation for Parise. He might be better with Sid than he would be with Geno, but Semin on Geno's line puts Neal, a guy that scored 10 (i think...) goals off of faceoffs and lead the league in PP goals, with arguably the leagues best passer and one of the leagues best faceoff men.

I think people seem to forget that Semin made all of those comments bashing Crosby a couple years ago... Something along the lines of him not having good hands and Patrick Kane was a better player than him...

So why would our captain, who just agreed to a 12 yr deal, want this guy on his line when there is obvious dislike between the two...

What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else. Even if you compare him to Patrick Kane from Chicago ... [Kane] is a much more interesting player. The way he moves, his deking abilities, his thinking on the ice and his anticipation of the play is so superb. I think that if you take any player, even if he is "dead wood," and start promoting him, you'll get a star. Especially if he scores 100 points. No one is going to care about anyone else. No one is going to care whether he possesses great skill. Let's say you put someone in front of the net and let him deflect pucks in, and he scored 50 goals; everyone will say "Wow!" and then hand him a $10 million per year contract. That's what they like here.

Last edited by Cr@zy871 on Fri Jun 29, 2012 9:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

Cr@zy871 wrote:I think people seem to forget that Semin made all of those comments bashing Crosby a couple years ago... Something along the lines of him not having good hands and Patrick Kane was a better player than him...

So why would our captain, who just agreed to a 12 yr deal, want this guy on his line when there is obvious dislike between the two... :pop:

I believe Tocchet beat the snot out of Troy loney a few days before they became teammates.

Cr@zy871 wrote:I think people seem to forget that Semin made all of those comments bashing Crosby a couple years ago... Something along the lines of him not having good hands and Patrick Kane was a better player than him...

So why would our captain, who just agreed to a 12 yr deal, want this guy on his line when there is obvious dislike between the two...

I believe Tocchet beat the snot out of Troy loney a few days before they became teammates.

Cr@zy871 wrote:I think people seem to forget that Semin made all of those comments bashing Crosby a couple years ago... Something along the lines of him not having good hands and Patrick Kane was a better player than him...

So why would our captain, who just agreed to a 12 yr deal, want this guy on his line when there is obvious dislike between the two...

I believe Tocchet beat the snot out of Troy loney a few days before they became teammates.

That's different though... Those things happen spur of the moment. I'm sure Tocchet didn't start the game saying "Im gonna try to fight Troy today because he is a bad player (Crosby and Nisky fought each other too). Semin obviously put some thought into making these comments.